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The History of the Establishment and Management Philosophies of the Portuguese Protected Areas: Combining Written Records and Oral History

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Abstract

The history of the establishment and management philosophies of the mainland Portuguese Protected Areas was reconstructed through the use of written records and oral history interviews. The objectives were to review the main philosophies in the creation and management of these areas, to assess the influence of international PA models, to compare the Portuguese case with other European and international literature concerning PAs and to discuss the value of the oral history in this research. As main results, it was found that the initial management model of “Wilderness (or Yellowstone)” was replaced by the “new paradigm” of PAs when the democracy was re-established. Changes in the management philosophies within this “new paradigm” were also identified, which resulted in the transition of a “Landscape” to a “Nature conservation” model. After the establishment of the Natura 2000 network, the “Biodiversity conservation” model prevailed. It was also found that the initiative for the establishment of most PAs came from the government, although there were few cases of creation due to the action of NGOs and municipalities. Finally, oral history interviews enabled the addition of information to the literature review, but also provided more insight and detail to this history.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to G. R. Telles, F. Pessoa, J.A. Fernandes, M. Correia, J. M. Ferreira, H. P. Santos, L. Carvalho, N. Lecoq, P. C. Henriques, L. Vicente, and J. Palmeirim for their contributions. We also thank M. J. Santos, M. Lecoq, M. Fernandes, Henrique M Pereira and the ICNB for helping in several stages of collection of information and discussion of ideas, and to B. Seeley and S. Lambert for reviewing an earlier version of this manuscript. The Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) funded this study.

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  1. Departamento de Ciências e Engenharia do Ambiente, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516, Caparica, Portugal

    Bruno Pinto

  2. Instituto Superior Técnico, Technical University of Lisbon, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal

    Maria Partidário

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Pinto, B., Partidário, M. The History of the Establishment and Management Philosophies of the Portuguese Protected Areas: Combining Written Records and Oral History. Environmental Management 49, 788–801 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-012-9820-y

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